San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee speaks at a news conference in San Francisco, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. San Francisco is preparing its world-famous waterfront for construction to accommodate the America's Cup sailing races, starting with the announcement Tuesday that two tenants have agreed to move from Piers 27 and 29. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Fresh off being sworn to a full term, Lee is wasting little time trying to drum up outside support for his job-creation agenda, including trips to Washington, D.C., and China - his first official visit abroad as mayor. (Lee and wife Anita visited his in-laws in Hong Kong over the holidays on a personal trip.)

"We're lining it up as more of a business trip," Lee said of his China expedition planned for late March or early April. "We'd like the largest universities in Shanghai and Beijing to join UCSF in a ... dialogue around not only research, but job creation."

UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann, former president for product development at Genentech, is expected to accompany the mayor on the trip, Lee said.

"She's extremely excited," Lee said. "We're working together on how to make even more international this whole bio-life science effort we're working on."

UCSF is the only school in the 10 campus UC system dedicated exclusively to health sciences, and it has a campus in the flourishing biotech hub of Mission Bay.

The trip will be paid for by private donors, Lee spokeswoman Christine Falveysaid.

But first, Lee heads to D.C., leaving Tuesday for a three-day trip to attend the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

As part of the trip, Lee will host a reception for fellow mayors, diplomats, Capitol Hill leaders and national business representatives to try to drum up interest and business sponsorships for the upcoming America's Cup regatta in San Francisco, projected to generate more than 8,000 jobs. Exhibition races begin in August and culminate with finals in summer 2013. A committee of local entrepreneurs and philanthropists working to defray $32 million in city costs through donations still has to raise about $20 million over the next two years to meet that mark.

Lee will also meet with members of California's congressional delegation, attend a White House reception and discuss funding for infrastructure projects like the Central Subway, Transbay Terminal and rebuilding the Doyle Drive approach to the Golden Gate Bridge with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the mayor's staff said.

"Mayor Lee is focused on job creation in San Francisco and will be spending the majority of his time in Washington talking about just that," Falvey said.

Looking for love: If you're going to leave your heart anywhere, San Francisco's a pretty good place to do it.

So says the Daily Beast in its new list, Best Cities to Find a Date in 2012, featuring San Francisco in the No. 8 spot. The news website ranked the top 25 U.S. cities based on four components: census data on the percentage of males and females older than 15 who are single and the percentage of the total population that's single; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on the average salary for singles and a city's cost of living; a well-being index to gauge residents' physical and mental health; and the popularity in any given city of five well-known online dating sites.

(It's unclear how San Francisco's high percentage of gay men could skew the results for lovelorn ladies, but nobody said these silly lists were perfect. They're just fun to write about.)

Sixty-one percent of San Francisco's men and women are single, according to the list. Singles make a median salary here of $58,887. An average movie ticket costs $10.70. And our well-being score is 69.1 out of 100.

Atlanta took the top place for dating, followed by Gainesville, Fla., and Lincoln, Neb. San Jose took the 25th spot.

For inspiration for date-seeking San Franciscans, we suggest watching this season's "The Bachelor," much of which is set right here - including tonight's episode, which apparently features the single Ben Flajnik skiing down a makeshift snow patch with a bunch of women in bikinis. Because, you know, that happens all the time here. And if there's any show that fosters love, it's "The Bachelor."